Governor for engines



Patented Apr. 11, 1950 TED STATES NC El GOVERNOR FOR ENGINES Elton C. Hallett, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Hallett lllanufacturingv Company; Inglewood, Calii'l, a corporation of California Application Api-il' 15, 1946; Serial No. 662,197

6 Claims.

The; invention. relates to governors and has particular reference1- to governors. which are used to regulate combustion engines.

In the use of governors on engines; forlimiting or controlling. the speed; or output much attention has been. directed to: the provision of governors of the flyball type; which operate, by the action of centrifugal force upon weighted. rotating. elements.v Elyball' governors, however, possess some limitations in thatthey. do notrespond with suficie-nt: rapidity at. all speeds and. do not lend themselves: with sufficient ease to adjustment while in operation.

It is, therefore, among: the objects of the in vention to provide a new and. improved governor which is sensitive andpositive in its action and which can be accurately adjusted while the en gine is' in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved governor device for combustion engines which is simple and? inexpensive to manufacture and which utilizes as a part: of the governor mechanism portions of the engine mechanism which are devotedtootherpurposes.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a combustion engine governor which is rugged in construction: so that it will continue to operate satisfactorilyund'er adverse'c'onditions over long periods of time.

Still further among the objects of the invention is to provide a new and improved: governor which is so constructed? that most offits. operating parts may be readily concealed in locations wherethey cannot readily become misadiusted: or disturbed and which incorporatesa; sensitive adjustment which is easilyaccessible and capable of. altering the adjustment of the governor at any time;

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts: of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained; as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out inthe claims and illustrated. in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary, side, e-levational' view of a combustion engineshowing the portion of the device devoted: to the. governor partly in section.

Figure 2.: is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view. taken on the line 2-2:: of Figure 1.

Figure- 3 is-acrossesectional view of the adjusting portion of, the. governor taken: on theline 3-3 of Figure, 2:.

Figure; e is a planview of a detent for: holding the governor adjusting handle in; position;

Combustion engines and particularly: Diesel engines in recent years have beenv adapted to: a great variety of uses under all, sorts of" operating conditions. As the'engine of standard specificae tions continues to be pressed into services somewhat different from' those for which the engine: has been designed increased caremust. be taken in making sure that the operating parts are of such construction. that. theywill: continue .to function ehiciently under all. circumstances. Since the redesign of the engine itself is an. expensive undertaking, where some changes must bemade it becomes advisable to retain the design or the engine itself and make the necessary cl'langesv and improvementsin somcof the operating or accessory parts, thuspreserving the original' design of the engine. If the changed operati'ng parts areto besuccessfully utilised, they must be positive in: operation under all sorts of conditions and must likewise be of such simple construction that they can be readily incorporated into, engines of standard construction and; design.

In an embodiment chosen to illustrate the improved type of governor comprising this in.- vention there has been selected, by way of: ex ample, a combustion. engine which may be, for example, a Diesel: type engine", comprising an en.- gineblock Hi. Mounted. in the engine block is a crank shaft H which supports a flywheel 12'. Above the engine block is a cylinder blocl: lf3'.

On the side of theengine block between the flywheel and the engine there is provided acasing it through which the crank shaft" passes. Within: the casing and attached to the crankv shaft isa gear 55 which is positioned so thatit meshes with gear iii", irequentlyoi twice the diameter and number of teeth, the second gear being keyed to a cam shaft it; the cam shaft being for the usual: purpose/of manipulating valves and fuel injectors for the engine,

The gear H, as here shown, is provided with a shallow depression 2& facing outwardly relative to the engine block. Within the depressionare mounted counterweight orflyba'll elementsZl which have a somewhat L shape and which aresecured by pivot pins 22 to an appropriate boss 23 within the depression of the gear l1, Each of the two counterweights shown. incorporate a weighted, end 28: which is free to pivot. outwardly and inwardly and a lever end; 2 The lever'end is positioned; in endwise" contact with an: inwardly. facing annular edge 25. of a. cap 25; The cap- 26: has a bottom 27 facing. outwardly relative to the shallow. depression. As; shown; the, cap is. mounted over the end of. the. cam v shaft. I18. so

that it is free to rotate about the shaft and to shift axially relative to the shaft. Movement of the cap is in response to pivotal movement of the counterweights or fiyballs, and it will be noted that the counterweights are balanced about the axis of the gear H.

In order to transfer the axial motion of the cap 26 to some appropriate location Where it may be used for governing purposes, there is provided a linkage 30 which incorporates a lever arm 31 pivotally mounted upon a pivot pin 32 which is journalled in lugs 33 on the engine block. The pivot pin is rotatably mounted in flanges 34 and extends into a casing or housing 35. Link elements 36, 37 and 38 make up a portion of the linkage which is adapted to extend to a fuel sup ply for the engine. The element 36 is fastened non-rotatably to the pivot pin 32 so that it is adapted to be moved when the pivot pin rotates.

For setting the governor there is provided a coiled spring 40, one end of which is mounted upon a trunnion or spring keeper 4| and is anchored together with the trunnion to the pin 32 by means of a lock pin 43. In the opposite end of the casing 35 a stub shaft 44 is non-rotatably fixed, and upon the stub shaft is rotatably mounted a worm gear 45. A trunnion or spring keeper 46 adjacent the worm gear provides a mounting for the adjacent end of the coiled spring. It will be noted that the spring has a turned down end 41 fastened to the worm gear so that the spring is rotated whenever the worm gear is rotated.

To provide a manual adjustment for the worm gear a stem 48 extends into the casing spaced from and transverse to the axis of the stub shaft 44. Upon the stem is a worm wheel 49 attached thereto by means of a pin 50, the worm Wheel being adjusted to mesh with the worm gear 45. The stem 48 extends upwardly from the casing and is provided with a handle I.

So that the handle may be held in a desired position there is provided a temporary detent 52 which may be a somewhat V-shaped, resilient member which is fastened to the top of the casing by some convenient means such as a rivet or screw 53. One side of the V-shaped member may be adapted to engage one or another of the flats 54 on an extended portion of the stem so that the stem will not accidentally rotate out of adjustment.

In operation of the device herein described wherein the gear I5 is one-half the diameter of the gear I! the crank shaft rotates the cam shaft at one-half the rate of its own rotation. As the gear I! rotates centrifugal force acting upon the weights 23 tends to pivot the weights about their respective pins 22 in an outward direction. This action tends to move the lever ends 24 against the cap and to lift the cap from its normal position. That is to say, the cap is moved axially from right to left as viewed in Figure 1.

Movement of the cap is transferred to the lever arm 3! which is rotated and which in turn, being keyed to the pin 32, rotates the pin 32 clockwise as viewed in Figure 1. This will tend to move the linkage 30 from left to right and make a corresponding adjustment on whatever fuel feeding device the linkage is connected to.

To modify action of the governor it is necessary only to rotate the handle 5! in one direction or another to either increase or decrease tension on the coiled spring 40. This will react more or less against the tilting of the counterweight-s. Movement of the cap 26 will thus be either increased or decreased depending on the direction of the setting and will efiect a corresponding movement one way or the other in the linkage 30.

By the arrangement shown there has been provided a governor device which may be incorporated bodily into the gear which drives the cam shaft and which occupies a compact space safely removed to a position within the confines of the engine. A sensitive adjustment keeps the governor under control at all times. The parts are relatively few and simply constructed so that they operate readily with high efliciency and can at the same time :be adjusted with a high degree of precision.

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent structures.

The invention having been herein described, what is claimed and sought to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an engine a governor adjustment comprising an engine block, a linkage pivotally mounted on the block and a spring tension member cooperabl-e therewith, said spring tension member comprising a rotating member included in said linkage and a spring having one end nonrotatably attached to said member, a stub shaft mounted upon the block and the other end of said spring being mounted in guiding relationship with the stub shaft, a stem and an endless rotatable adjusting attachment between the stem and the other end of the spring.

2. In an engine a governor adjustment comprising an engine block, a linkage, a pivot pin rotatably mounted on the block for mounting the linkage and a spring tension member cooperable therewith. said spring tension member incorporating the pivot pin, a coiled spring having one end non-rotatably attached to said pivot pin, a stub shaft mounted upon the engine block and the other end of said spring being mounted around the stub shaft, a gear on said stub shaft attached to the spring, a stem mounted on the block having a worm wheel thereon meshing with the gear, and a handle element on the stem.

3. In a Diesel engine incorporating an engine block, a drive shaft mounted on the block, a cam shaft, gears in driving relationship with the cam shaft and the drive shaft and a fuel injection means, the combination of a unitary governor control housed at one end of the engine block comprising a gear casing surrounding the gears and attached to the end of the engine block, a spring casing attached to the side of the gear casing, a counterweight governor element on the cam shaft including an axially movable counterweight responsive member on the cam shaft, a linkage responsive to movement of said member comprising a pin rotatably mounted on said casings having one end extending into the gear casing and the other end extending into the spring casing, a lever fixed on said one end engaging said member, means adapted to connect said pin intermediate the ends to the fuel injection means and spring adjusting means in said spring housing engaging said other end of the pin.

4. In a Diesel engine incorporating an engine block, a drive shaft mounted on the block, a cam shaft, gears in driving relationship with the cam shaft and the drive shaft and a fuel injection means, the combination of a unitary governor control housed at one end of the engine block comp-rising a gear casing surrounding the gears and attached to the end of the engine block, a spring casing attached to the side of the gear casing in transverse position relative to the cam shaft, and spaced parallel flanges comprising portions of said casings, a counterweight governor element on the cam shaft including an axially movable counterweight responsive cap on the cam shaft, a linkage responsive to cap movement comprising a pin rotatably mounted in said flanges having one end extending into the gear casing and the other end extending into the spring casing, a lever fixed on said one end engaging said cap, means adapted to connect said pin at a location intermediate said flanges to the fuel injection means and spring adjusting means in said spring casing engaging said other end of the pin comprising a torsion spring connected at one end to said other end of the pin and a manually actuatable gear train attached to the other end of the spring.

5. In a Diesel engine incorporating an engine block, a drive shaft mounted on the block, a cam shaft, gears in driving relationship with the cam shaft and the drive shaft and a fuel injection means, the combination of a unitary governor control housed at one end of the engine block comprising a gear casing surrounding the gears and attached to the end of the engine block, a spring casing attached to the gear casing in transverse position relative to the cam shaft, a counterweight governor element on the cam shaft including an axially movable counterweight responsive cap on the cam shaft, a linkage responsive to cap movement comprising a pin rotatably mounted in adjacent walls of said casings having one end extending into the gear casing and the other end extending into the spring casing, a lever fixed on said one end engaging said cap, means adapted to connect said pin intermediate said ends to the fuel injection means and spring adjusting means in said spring housing engaging said other end of the pin comprising a stub shaft mounted in the housing, a gear mounted on the stub shaft, a gear rotating means in the housing having a manually actuated portion including a detent extending outside said spring housing and 6 a torsion spring having one end fixed to the pin and the other end fixed to the last identified gear.

6. In a Diesel engine incorporating an engine block, a drive shaft mounted on the block, a cam shaft, gears in driving relationship with thecam shaft and the drive shaft and a fuel injection means, the combination of a unitary governor control housed at one end of the engine block comprising a gear casing surrounding the gears and bolted to the end of the engine block, a spring casing bolted to the gear casing in transverse position relative to the cam shaft, and spaced parallel flanges comprising portions of said casings, a counterweight governor element on the cam shaft including an axially movable counterweight responsive cap on the cam shaft, a linkage responsive to cap movement comprising a pin rotatably mounted in said flanges having one end extending into the gear casing and the other end extending into the spring casing, a lever fixed on said one end engaging said cap, means adapted to connect said pin intermediate said flanges to the fuel injection means and spring adjusting means in said spring housing engaging said other end of the pin comprising a stub shaft fixed in the housing in axial alignment with the pin, a worm gear rotatably mounted on the stub shaft, a stem journalled in the spring casing and a worm wheel thereon engaging said last gear, a torsion spring having one end fixed to the pin and the other end surrounding one end of the stub shaft and fixed to the gear, and spring detent means on the spring casing releasably engaging said stem.

ELTON C. HALLET'I.

BEFEREN CES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 794,178 Hobart July 11, 1905 1,442,885 Hinkley Jan. 23, 1923 1,984,661 Stickles Dec. 18, 1934 2,150,075 Mennesson Mar. '7, 1939 

